Chemical Reactor with Permeable Wall for Selective Oxidation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Chemical reactions involving overly reactive reactants or products often result in secondary reactions that lead to undesirable byproducts, limiting the yield of desired products and requiring complex and costly reactor designs and operations.
Innovation Solution
A chemical reactor design featuring a permeable wall with a catalyst coating and a non-permeable wall, where overly reactive reactants are diluted and controlled to minimize secondary reactions, allowing for higher yields of target products while reducing undesirable byproducts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional fixed-bed reactors operate at low conversions to avoid secondary reactions, then selectivity to desired product is improved, but productivity decreases and reactor volume increases
Solution Approach 1:
The reactor is divided into multiple zones: a first bed for primary reaction, a second bed for additional conversion, and intermediate separation zones. This segmentation allows the system to achieve high overall conversion while maintaining selectivity in each zone, avoiding the need to operate at uniformly low conversions throughout the entire reactor.
Solution Approach 2:
A heat exchange medium acts as an intermediary between reaction zones, controlling temperature to prevent excessive heat buildup that drives secondary reactions. This thermal mediation enables higher conversions without sacrificing selectivity, resolving the contradiction between productivity and manufacturing precision.
2Manufacturing precision
If alternative reaction pathways are used to avoid overly reactive reactants, then selectivity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple reaction pathways are merged into a single integrated reactor system with sequential beds and intermediate separation. This combines the benefits of alternative pathways (improved selectivity) while avoiding the complexity of multiple separate reactor systems, as the pathways are coordinated within one unified device.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the reactor are designed with locally optimized conditions: the first bed uses specific catalysts and temperature profiles for initial conversion, while the second bed uses different conditions for further conversion. This local optimization maintains selectivity without requiring the entire reactor to be designed for a single complex pathway.
3Manufacturing precision
If low single-pass conversion is operated to avoid secondary reactions, then selectivity is improved, but loss of time increases due to recycling requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The reactor system maintains continuous forward progress through multiple conversion beds arranged in sequence, eliminating the need for recycling loops. Each bed contributes to overall conversion, allowing the system to achieve high selectivity and high conversion in a single continuous pass, thereby eliminating time loss associated with recycling operations.
4Manufacturing precision
If complex reactor designs are used to handle overly reactive chemicals, then selectivity is improved, but ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The reactor system incorporates self-regulating features where the sequential bed design and heat exchange mechanisms automatically manage reaction conditions. The system self-adjusts temperature and conversion levels across different zones, reducing the need for complex external control systems and making operation simpler while maintaining high selectivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The reactor design effectively reduces secondary reactions, achieving higher yields of desired products and lower formation of undesirable byproducts, thereby improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of chemical conversion processes.
Implementation Method 1
a first permeable wall characterized by an inner surface and an outer surface and a plurality of pores extending from the inner surface to the outer surface
Implementation Method 2
the second flow passage being fluidly connected to the outer surface of the first permeable wall; a second permeable wall characterized by an inner surface and an outer surface and a plurality of pores extending from the inner surface to the outer surface; the second permeable wall supporting on its inner surface a catalyst
Data Source
AI summary
A chemical reactor for use in a chemical process wherein a reactant and/or a target product is prone to produce undesirable byproducts through secondary reactions. The reactor is configured with a first flow passage for passing a flow of an overly reactive reactant; a permeable first wall for controlled flow of the overly reactive reactant into a second flow passage providing a flow of a second reactant; a permeable second wall having a catalyst supported on an inner surface thereof for catalyzing reaction of the reactants flowing in the second flow passage; the permeable second wall passing through a flow containing the target product; and a non-permeable third wall defining a third flow passage for exiting the product mixture. The reactor can be employed in selective oxidation, oxidative dehydrogenation, and alkylation processes to reduce the formation of byproducts.